Lead Turbomachinery Engineer

Location: Los Angeles Metropolitan Area
Employment Type: Full-Time
Department: Engineering
Level: Senior Technical Leadership

About the Opportunity

An early-stage energy technology company is developing next-generation power conversion systems designed to improve efficiency, scalability, and performance across a range of demanding energy applications.

The company is developing advanced turbomachinery technology and is moving from prototype development toward increasingly sophisticated hardware testing and production. This is an opportunity to join an experienced engineering team at an early stage and take ownership of a critical piece of the technology.

We are seeking a Lead Turbomachinery Engineer to lead the aerodynamic design and development of the compressor and turbine at the core of the company's power-conversion system.

This role combines deep turbomachinery engineering with early-stage technical leadership. You will work across aerodynamic design, system architecture, hardware development, testing, and manufacturing while helping establish the processes and team needed to scale the technology.

What You'll Do

• Lead the aerodynamic design of compressors and turbines, from preliminary meanline design through streamline analysis and 3D CFD.
• Own aerodynamic performance prediction across both design-point and off-design operating conditions.
• Drive rotating hardware toward released designs in collaboration with mechanical and systems engineering teams.
• Evaluate how aerodynamic decisions interact with structural, thermal, rotordynamic, sealing, bearing, and manufacturing constraints.
• Partner closely with rotordynamics and mechanical engineering specialists to develop an integrated rotating system.
• Support prototype hardware builds, test-rig development, testing, and data-driven design iteration.
• Analyze test results and translate experimental data into improvements to aerodynamic and hardware designs.
• Work with manufacturing and external suppliers to develop manufacturable rotating hardware.
• Contribute to system-level architecture and technical trade studies.
• Establish engineering methods, analysis processes, and design practices that can scale with the organization.
• Help recruit, mentor, and develop engineers as the turbomachinery team grows.
• Maintain a hands-on role in technical problem solving while providing engineering direction to other team members.

What We're Looking For

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a closely related field
• Demonstrated experience designing and analyzing turbomachinery such as:
  • Compressors
  • Turbines
  • Turbopumps
  • Turboexpanders
  • Turbochargers
  • Other rotating flow machinery
• Strong fundamentals in fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, and turbomachinery aerodynamics
• Experience taking turbomachinery designs through meaningful portions of the development cycle, ideally through hardware testing and validation.
• Strong understanding of how aerodynamic design decisions interact with structural, thermal, rotordynamic, mechanical, and manufacturing considerations.
• Proficiency with CFD and turbomachinery design tools, such as ANSYS CFX, Fluent, AxStream, CFturbo, or comparable platforms.
• Proficiency with CAD tools, such as NX, SolidWorks, Creo, Onshape, or comparable systems.
• Strong engineering judgment and ability to make practical design decisions in an environment where multiple technical constraints must be balanced.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills.
• Ability and willingness to operate as both a technical contributor and engineering leader.
• Interest in working in an early-stage environment where engineers have significant ownership and responsibility.

Preferred Experience

• Experience with supercritical CO₂ or other real-gas turbomachinery
• Radial or high-speed compressor and turbine design experience.
• Experience with structural and thermal analysis of turbomachinery hardware, including FEA.
• Experience with detailed mechanical design of rotating hardware through released engineering drawings.
• Knowledge of turbomachinery manufacturing processes.
• Experience working with high-temperature or creep-resistant materials.
• Experience taking rotating machinery from initial design through hardware testing and validation
• Experience integrating aerodynamic, mechanical, thermal, and rotordynamic requirements into a complete rotating system.
• Experience leading or mentoring early-career engineers.
• Previous experience in an early-stage company, startup, or similarly fast-paced engineering environment.

Why This Role

This is an opportunity to take ownership of a core turbomachinery technology while working close to the hardware and having significant influence over the engineering direction of the product.

You will have the opportunity to work on clean-sheet turbomachinery development, move rapidly between analysis, design, testing, and iteration, and help shape the engineering organization as the company scales.

The role is particularly suited to an engineer who wants to remain technically hands-on while taking on broader responsibility for architecture, development strategy, and team leadership.

Compensation & Benefits

Base Salary: $180,000 – $260,000

The overall compensation package includes meaningful equity ownership

Additional benefits include:

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Company-provided meals and stocked kitchen
• Other standard employee benefits

Relocation support may be available for qualified candidates.